Coed Quarters & Free Birth Control–The New Campus Culture?

The campus of George Washington University must be an interesting place to be — and it looks like it may quickly become a lot more interesting. Consider these opening words from a report in The Washington Post: “The long-eroding boundaries that once kept men and women apart on America’s college campuses soon will disappear at George Washington University, which this week announced that students can share dorm rooms with anyone they want — regardless of gender.”

Thus, GWU becomes the latest school to adopt a “gender-neutral” housing policy. This policy, which will allow students to share a room with a person of either sex, was not pushed by heterosexual students. The demands came from gay, lesbian, and transgendered students. A student leader of “Allied for Pride” said, “Ivy League schools have it. A lot of progressive schools have it. It was time for us to try it.”

Several GWU students had already experimented with gender-neutral housing on campus by living in a townhouse they labeled “Escaping Gender.”

One shocking aspect of this development is how the moms quoted in the article were all for the new policy. “The students need to learn to make these decisions based on their own comfort levels,” said one mom. Another mom said, “They’re 18. We can’t do much about it anyway, if they’re away at school.”

That is patent nonsense, of course, but it indicates that many parents are no more mature or level-headed than their 18-year-old offspring.

Meanwhile, Newsweek also reports that GWU is wondering if the Obama health care regulations will classify birth control pills as “preventative medicine”, which would be available for free through insurance programs. GWU freshman Jessi Payton told Newsweek that not having the The Pill does not mean that students will not be having sex.

“The answer is definitely not having students abstain from sex,” she insisted. “We are adults. We are going to have sex, and if the pill isn’t available, sex just isn’t going to be as safe.”

Well, if this young woman’s words prove anything, it is that she is definitely not an adult. College students are dependents. They may be 18, but they are not living as full adults, supporting themselves and living responsibly. It’s a sad picture of America’s college students and a reflection of the moral confusion at the heart of the larger culture.

Depressed? Well, hold on for this: George Washington University was first established by Baptist missionary/statesman Luther Rice as Columbian College, a Baptist college for the training of young people for service in the church and on the mission field. Baptists lost control, the school changed its name to George Washington University, and it now serves as a parable of the secularization of higher education.

In less than two centuries, the school has modulated from Luther Rice to gender-neutral housing and demands for free birth control. The slide will not end here.

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Jenna Johnson and Daniel de Vise, “At George Washington University, Coed Quarters Becoming Option for All,” The Washington Post, Saturday, December 4, 2010.

Carolyn Sayre, “Should Birth Control on Campus Be Free?,” Newsweek [Education], Friday, December 3, 2010.